Solar activity reached low levels on 17-18 Apr due to isolated C-class flare activity from Region 2651 (N12, L=070, class/area=Cso/150 on 23 Apr), but solar activity was at very low levels through the remainder of the period (19-23 Apr). The largest event of the period, a long-duration C5/Sf flare at 18/2010 UTC with both Type-II and IV radio emissions, had an associated CME that was
observed in C2 coronagraph imagery beginning at 18/1948 UTC. CME analysis and WSA-Enlil modelling suggested that this event did not have an Earth-directed component, however, it is likely that this event reached Earth late on 21 Apr. No other Earth-directed CMEs were observed.

Geomagnetic field activity was quiet on 17 Apr and quiet to unsettled on 18 Apr under a nominal solar wind regime. The influence of a recurrent, positive polarity CH HSS caused periods of G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm conditions on 19 Apr and G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) storm conditions on 20 Apr. The likely arrival of a CME (from 18 Apr) combined with the onset of a CIR caused G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels late on 21 Apr. The influence of a recurrent, negative polarity CH HSS began early on 22 Apr and caused G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) geomagnetic storms on 22-23 Apr.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 24 April - 20 May 2017

Solar activity is expected to be very low with a chance for C-class flare activity throughout the outlook period (24 Apr-20 May).

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is likely to reach very high levels on 29-30 Apr with high levels likely on 24-28 Apr and 06-12, 17-20 May. Normal to moderate flux levels are expected for the remainder of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is likely to reach G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 19-20 May with G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms likely on 24-27 Apr and 01, 17-18 May due to the influence of multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. Active conditions are likely on 28 Apr and 05-06, 16 May with quiet or quiet to unsettled field activity expected for the remainder of the period.

Monday, April 24, 2017

It
was in April 1899, that Professor Jerome Green at the University of Notre Dame
at South Bend, in the north of the state of Indiana, made his first experiments
in wireless transmission. Working with
several interested students, Professor Green assembled the necessary equipment
for a spark transmitter and a coherer receiver as a locally made copy of the
equipment assembled by Guglielmo Marconi in Italy and England.

In his first experiments, Professor
Green hung a wire ten feet long from the ceiling in the Physics Laboratory in
Science Hall (now La Fortune Hall) as the antenna, and another wire connected
to a nearby steam pipe as the earthing system.
The transmitter was a battery powered spark coil that could produce
sparks nearly a foot long.

In an adjoining room, a suspended
wire six feet long formed the antenna and the earthing wire was again connected
to a nearby steam pipe. The receiver was a coherer, that is a very small glass
tube with an internal diameter of just 1/8th
inch, filled with silver and nickel filings.
Successful wireless transmissions were achieved with the sending and
receiving apparatuses in the adjoining rooms.

Next they set up their apparatus in
two separate buildings 100 feet apart, with similarly successful results. Then they ventured further apart, with the
receiver in another building, Sorin Hall, 500 feet distant. On each occasion, the transmitter remained in
the Science Building, and the receiver was installed in buildings progressively
further apart.

However, we should mention that on
each occasion, the earth connection from the transmitter and the earth
connection from the receiver were always attached to nearby steam pipes. It would seem to us that on each occasion the
transmission was achieved successfully through both pathways simultaneously;
through the air from the transmitting antenna to the receiving antenna and also
through the connections to the steam pipe system.

However, in a subsequent experiment,
they attached the transmitting antenna wire to a flagpole 125 feet high and
reception was achieved at a distance of two miles. The receiver was then moved to another
location another mile further distant with suburban South Bend in between. Strong signals were again received in this
experiment over an air distance of three miles.

Their next experiment was from Notre
Dame University to a location in Mishawaka, an air distance of six miles. However, that distance was just too much for
their primitive apparatus, and this time no signal was received. That failed experiment was the end of the
wireless experiments at the Notre Dame
University in April of the year 1899.

However, due to their successful
experimentation in South Bend, Professor Green was invited to conduct similar
experiments during the month of May (1899) in the downtown area of the city of
Chicago in nearby Illinois. Initially
the transmitter was setup at the Polk Street Railway Station and the receiver
in the Tribune (newspaper) Building, a distance of ¾ mile. Due to excessive electrical interference from
many intervening wire systems, this experiment was not successful.

In a subsequent experiment, the
transmitter was installed in the new skyscraper Monadnock Building and the
receiver again in the Tribune Building, a clear distance of less than half a
mile with no intervening wire systems.
The received signal on this occasion, according to a news item in the
Tribune newspaper, was described as strong.
Similar experiments also occurred in another new skyscraper, the Marquette Building.

Later the transmitter was set up at
the Life Saving Station at the mouth of the Chicago River and the receiver on a
tugboat out on the lake. That final
experiment was indeed successful with the reception also of a very strong
signal.

In all of those wireless
experiments, Professor Green acknowledged that he invented nothing, that all he
did was to copy the work of the famous Guglielmo Marconi, and he demonstrated
that yes, the Marconi system did work.
Transmissions over water, he affirmed, were stronger than over the
land. However, his pioneering work at
Notre Dame University is accorded the honor of being the first wireless
experimentation in the state of Indiana.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

From the Isle of Music
Week of April 24-29, 2017
For the benefit of our new listeners, we share one
of our earliest episodes from last year with modern Cuban concert music (Piñera
Concertante), Timba (El Niño y La Verdad), Danzón (Ethiel Failde, who is also
our special guest), and some rare Cuban Jazz Fusion (Estado de Animo)

Four
possibilities to listen via shortwave:

1. For Eastern Europe but audible well
beyond the target area in all directions with 100Kw, Sunday 1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria
(1800-1900 MSK)2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100
UTC on WBCQ, 7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EDT in the US)3
& 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday
1200-1300 on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany.

Episode 9 of Uncle
Bill's Melting Pot, a clandestine musical variety program that features
everything from everywhere EXCEPT music that you are probably familiar with,
,will air on WBCQ the Planet, 7490 KHz, Thursday, April 27 from 2300-2330 UTC
(7:00pm-7:30pm EDT in the Americas). Brought to you by

Tilford Productions,
which also brings you From the Isle of Music.(The WBCQ website keeps us Top
Secret, but we'll be on, and propagation has been great lately....)

On
the previous occasion when we looked at the radio scene in the city of
Trivandrum in South India, we presented the story of their local radio
stations, AM mediumwave and FM. In our
program today, we present the story of their shortwave station which is often
heard in continents afar, such as Australia, North America and Europe,

The name of the city, Trivandrum, is
an English abbreviation of the very long name in Malayalam, the official
language of the Indian state of Kerala.
The Malayalam language is a Dravidian language that was derived from
ancient Tamil with an admixture of the ancient classical Sanskrit language.

The Malayalam language contains 52
letters, consisting of 16 vowels and 36 consonants, which when combined in
various pronunciations produce a total of 576 syllabic characters, making a
total of more than 900 separate glyphs.
The Malayalam language contains the most written characters of any of
the many languages in India.

In 1981, the writing system in the
Malayalam language was officially reduced down to 90 characters, thus
simplifying typesetting and the usage of computers. The name of the southern city in the
Malayalam language is Thiruvananthapuram which when translated into English,
means the City of the Eternal Lord.

It was back in the early 1960s that
the first attempt was made to establish a shortwave transmitter in conjunction
with the already existing mediumwave facility in Trivandrum. However, due to rising tensions with China
which developed into a month long border conflict, the shortwave transmitter
intended for Trivandrum was quickly diverted to Kurseong in West Bengal.

This new 20 kW transmitter was
installed out among the tea estates in the high hill countryside out from
Kurseong and it was officially inaugurated on June 2, 1962. At the time, there was no mediumwave station
in Kurseong, and programming was produced locally and taken on relay from Delhi
and Calcutta. This station operated on
3355 kHz early morning and evening, and on 6100 kHz during the day.

Two years later, All India Radio
announced that a 250 watt transmitter would be installed in Trivandrum and it
would operate on 7280 kHz. However, this
intended plan was never implemented either.

Then twenty years later again, All
India Radio announced that Trivandrum was again under consideration for the
installation of a shortwave transmitter, a project that would be implemented
under the next Five Year Plan. However,
once again, and for the third time, Trivandrum missed out.

However, comes the year 1992, and a
50 W transmitter manufactured by BEL Bangalore Electronics Limited Model HHB144
was actually installed at a coastal location at Muttathura in suburban
Trivandrum, some eight miles from the studios of All India Radio
mediumwave. The transmitter site also
includes an emergency on air studio.

The
shortwave antenna system is readily visible on Google Earth and the three
towers can be seen in close walking distance to the beach, a little south of
the sewage farm which itself is a little south of the jetty. The three self supporting towers are in a
straight line, at an angle of approximately 750 and they are
supporting two simple curtain antennas.
The main coverage area for AIR Trivandrum shortwave is towards the north
from Trivandrum and across to the neighboring island of Sri Lanka.

Test transmissions consisting of
mainly test tones began in October 1992, and two years later on November 6
(1994), the station was taken into a regular schedule of on air service. Currently, shortwave AIR Trivandrum is on the
air morning and evening on 5010 kHz and during the day on 7290 kHz. QSL cards for this shortwave station are
usually processed at the AIR head office in New Delhi.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

A
surprising move in the international radio world is reported in the March issue
of the Australian DX News. The Japanese
shortwave service NHK in Tokyo has made an enquiry regarding the possibility of
buying the shortwave station at Santa Maria di Galeria that is owned and
operated by Vatican Radio.This unusual
report is contained in a news release from the Catholic World News service, as
copied into the latest issue of the Australian DX News.

In recent years, it has been
reported that Vatican Radio has been attempting to cut its operating costs by a
reduction in some of its transmission services, and also by operating its
complement of shortwave transmitters at a lower power level. In addition, Vatican Radio has also
co-operated in exchanging reciprocal
relay services with other international broadcasting stations, such as Radio
Canada International, Radio Netherlands and NHK Tokyo.

The Catholic World News Report
states that the newly appointed prefect of the Secretariat for Communications
in the Vatican, Msgr Dario Vigano, will cut off all shortwave broadcasts as a
move to cut costs. One of the first
moves in this regard occurred on March 24 when all English language broadcasts
to Asia came to an end. This dramatic
move in ending its shortwave transmissions will include the closure of their
large shortwave station at Santa Maria
di Galeria.

No specific date was indicated in
the brief three paragraph news release as to the target date for closure. However, this same news release refers to the
fact that the Vatican will no longer use the shortwave station at Santa Maria
di Galaria, and that NHK Tokyo has already enquired regarding the possibility
of buying this station.

In our program today here in
Wavescan, we go back to the beginning, and we investigate the origins of
Vatican Radio and its first shortwave station.
This is the story.

Back on July 25, 1925, a senior
Vatican official issued a memorandum calling for the Vatican to establish its
own radio broadcasting station, primarily for the broadcast of astronomy news
from the Vatican Observatory. Two years
later, the Italian-Irishman of radio fame,
Guglielmo Marconi, received an official invitation from the Vatican to make
plans for establishing a radio broadcasting station in the Vatican.

Two years later again, on February
11, 1929, a concordat was signed between the government of Italy and the
Vatican, thus re-establishing the Vatican as a separate political entity with
extra-territorial status. Then four days
after the signing of this concordat, which is known as the Lateran Treaty,
Marconi was entrusted with the installation of a radio broadcasting station, Vatican
Radio.

Under the Marconi initiative, a new
10 kW shortwave transmitter was installed in Vatican City, or Leonine City as
it is sometimes called. This transmitter
and its associated equipment was manufactured in Marconi’s own factory at Chelmsford in
England.

The transmitter and self-supporting
antenna tower, together with its associated reflector at the base, was erected
in the area of the enclave known as the Vatican Gardens. Interestingly, this new radio broadcasting station
would operate solely on shortwave, and a mediumwave service would not be
established until a dozen years later, during the stressful years of World War
2.

At 3:30 pm on Thursday February 12,
1931, Marquis Marconi arrived and he entered the small studio where he
announced to the world in fluent English that the official inauguration
ceremony would begin just one hour later.
This introductory shortwave transmission was heard loud and clear, it
was reported, in New York City USA, Melbourne Australia and Quebec Canada. All of the new electronic equipment was then
switched off.

One hour later at the previously
appointed time of 4:30 pm, the electronic equipment was officially switched on
again, stage by stage. The transmitter
operator sent out a short four word message in Morse Code in the Latin language
as an indication that the official inauguration program was about to
begin.

A few minutes later, Guglielmo
Marconi himself, speaking again in fluent English, announced in two brief
paragraphs the birth of shortwave station HVJ,
the new Vatican Radio. Vatican
dignitaries speaking in the Latin language for a full hour and a half, then
pronounced the official inauguration of the new shortwave radio station whose
signal could be heard around the world.
Monitoring reports received subsequently indicated a good signal into so
many different countries around the world.

Initial programming from shortwave
HVJ consisted of two brief broadcasts each day; 15 minutes each, beginning at
5:00 am on 15120 kHz and at 2:00 pm on 5970 kHz. Program content was usually astronomy
information from the Vatican Observatory presented in the Italian
language. There were however, special
broadcasts on special occasions, and occasional broadcasts in the English
language.

Some six years later, in 1937, a
German made 25 kW Telefunken transmitter, Model S379GR, also shortwave, was
installed, though programming still remained much the same, with English on
Wednesdays and Saturdays. However, with
war clouds ominous over continental Europe, developmental plans were laid in
the Autumn of 1939 with increased programming in multiple languages.

The first mediumwave transmitter for
Vatican Radio was installed during the year 1943 under the callsign HVI. From where did the Vatican obtain an
additional radio broadcasting transmitter when active war was wreaking havoc
and devastation in so many countries of continental Europe, including Italy
itself?

By this time, the European war was
turning against the central powers, and Italy signed a Peace Memorandum with
the allies on September 3, 1943, the very day that British forces landed on the
toe of Italy. And American forces
followed very quickly afterwards, just three days later.

With the British and American
presence already in Italy, we could guess that the new 1 kW transmitter in the
Vatican came from either England or the United States. Perhaps the Marconi company in England, or
perhaps RCA in the United States?

Over the years, additional
mediumwave transmitters have been installed in the Vatican, including 100 kW on
1529 kHz in 1951, and several smaller units at 5 kW 10 kW 15 kW and 20 kW. Also
in 1951, a Philips 100 kW shortwave transmitter was installed in Vatican City,
though this was transferred six
years later as the first transmitter in Santa Maria di Galeria.

The last shortwave transmitter in
Vatican City itself was a double unit made up of a Marconi 50 kW and a
Telefunken 30 kW combined to produce 80 kW on the out of band channel 6210
kHz. This unusual operation was closed
down half a dozen years ago.

Later this year, we plan to present
the story of the Vatican shortwave station at Santa Maria di Galeria, which, we
understand, NHK Tokyo would now like to buy.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Lying
some ten miles off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean is the
lonely and almost isolated island called Vieques. This island is 20 miles long and not quite 5
miles wide.A dozen or so smaller islets
and rocklets may be seen nearby.

La Isla de Vieques has no permanent
rivers or streams; it is subject to tropical storms and hurricanes; it boasts
the world’s brightest
oceanic bioluminescence in a bright neon blue; and one of its tourist
attractions is a 300 year old Ceiba Tree, a silk cotton tree. According to the international tourist
authority, TripAdvisor, Island Vieques boasts several uncommercialized pristine
beaches that are listed among the top 25 in the world. One of these unique beaches is Black Sand
Beach, where the sand at the waterfront is very finely ground volcanic rock.

The very earliest settlers on Vieques were the Amerindians from the
mainland areas of the Americas. They
arrived by small boat via the many intervening islands throughout the
Caribbean. About a thousand years ago,
the combined inhabitants of Vieques with their various tribal backgrounds
developed what is known as the Taino culture.

It is said that the famous Iberian
explorer, Christopher Columbus must have at least seen the island called
Vieques during his visit to the Caribbean in 1493. This small island came under Spanish
influence at the same time as did nearby Puerto Rico. It was described as a lawless outpost way
back 500 years ago, and there were attempts by Spain, France, England and even
Denmark to colonize the island, though with very little success.

Interestingly, back during the early
colonial era, Scotland ventured into establishing their own outpost settlements
in the Americas, though with almost no success anywhere. Their initial attempt was in the year 1629
when they established a small colonial settlement in what is now Nova Scotia
(New Scotland) in Canada. This was the
first of a dozen Scottish settlements in North America, Central America and the
Caribbean.

During
the latter part of the 1600s, Scotland made numerous attempts to buy Vieques
Island which was identified at the time by the British as Crab Island. In a desperate attempt to obtain the island,
a Scottish fleet made landfall and took possession of it in the name of the
Company of Scotland in 1698.

A total of five ships were on their
way at the time to what is now Panama and a few of their colonial passengers
dropped off on Vieques to
found a small Scottish settlement.
However, because of European rivalries in the Caribbean, the Scottish
settlement on Vieques was no more successful than any of the other Scottish
settlements in the Americas.

In 1811, Vieques was colonized from
Puerto Rico; in 1854 the island was annexed by Puerto Rico; and in 1898 the
island, along with Puerto Rico itself, was ceded by Spain to the United
States. These days there are two small
towns on the island, Isabel and Esperanza; and the total population of the
entire island numbers nearly 10,000.

On
September 1, 1922 the Department of Commerce in Washington DC issued a license
for a new Commercial Land Station on Vieques under the sequential callsign
WGW. Station WGW was operated by the
Bureau of Insular Telegraphy for communication with the main RCA communication
station in the regional capital city San Juan on Puerto Rico.

An entry in Radio News for April 1925 lists
station WGW as a program broadcasting station on 600 metres, 500 kHz. Many other radio stations in the United
States with callsigns beginning with the two letters WG were also listed as
radio broadcasting stations, and this would lead us to believe that the Vieques
communication station WGW was also on the air at times with entertainment and
information programs. In 1933, this same
station WGW was listed with five different shortwave wavelengths, though 52
metres seems to have been their most used channel.

In 1942, the United States Navy
purchased or seized 2/3rds of the island for use in conjunction
with their base at Roosevelt Roads on nearby Puerto Rico. Their original intent was to construct a lengthy
stone breakwater connecting the two islands, Pueto Rico and Vieques; thus
forming a massive artificial harbor.
This artificial harbor was originally intended to be a refuge for the
Royal Navy if Hitler should conduct a successful invasion against England, but
it was never constructed.

In April 2001, the aircraft carrier
USS Enterprise (Vessel No CVN65) was in the waterways between Puerto Rico and
Vieques and its planes were on patrol conducting a practice drill with bombing
runs against vacant areas on Vieques. In
order to warn the local inhabitants, an American radio station was on the air
with information in English and Spanish regarding the air raids. We would presume that this station was on the
air from the USS Enterprise and that one of its many radio transmitters was
tuned to a mediumwave frequency in the AM mode.

In 2003, local citizens on Vieques
began the production of a one hour weekly radio broadcast under the title Radio
Vieques and this program was transmitted by two mediumwave stations in Puerto
Rico; one in San Juan and the other in Humacao.
This program was on the air for five years, though when it ended in
2008, plans were formulated for the development of a community operated local
FM station on the island.

After
five years of planning, preparation and fundraising, the new Radio Vieques was
finally airborne four years ago on June 23, 2013 with 4 kW on 90.1 MHz. Their very appropriate callsign is WVQR, with
the W as an American prefix, and the VQ indicating rather obviously Vieques,
and the R standing for Radio.

Here is a brief excerpt of the top
of the hour programming from Radio Vieques, the community FM radio station on
Vieques Island, station WVQR:-

Solar activity was at very low levels throughout the summary period. Region 2650 (N11, L=193, class/area=Cao/40 on 11 Apr 2017) produced numerous B-class flares throughout the period and was the only active region with sunspots this period. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed.

No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached moderate levels on 16 Apr and high levels on 10-15 Apr with a peak flux of 3,860 pfu observed at 1715 UTC on 10 Apr.

Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels on 10, 13, and 16 Apr. Quiet to unsettled levels were observed on 12 and 15 Apr, and quiet to active levels were observed on 11 and 14 Apr due to waning CH HSS influence and a solar sector boundary change.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 17 April - 13 May 2017

Solar activity is expected to be very low with a chance for C-class flare activity throughout the outlook period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach very high levels on 29-30 Apr and high levels on 18-28 Apr and 01, 06-12 May. Moderate flux levels are expected throughout the remainder of the period.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to reach G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 23 Apr and G1 (Minor) storm levels on 17, 24-27 Apr, and 01 May due to the influence of recurrent CH HSSs. Active conditions are expected on 19, 28 Apr and 05-06 May with generally quiet or quiet to unsettled levels likely throughout the remainder of the period.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

No guest this week, just
a wonderful mix of multiple styles of Cuban music from the 1950s to
today.Four possibilities to listen via shortwave:

1. For Eastern Europe
but audible well beyond the target area in all directions with 100Kw, Sunday
1500-1600 UTC on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900
MSK)

2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UTC on WBCQ,
7490 KHz from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9PM EDT in the US)

3 & 4. For
Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UTC and Saturday 1200-1300 on
Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, GermanyFrom the Isle of Music is not
available for listening on demand but some broadcasts can be heard online during
the time of the broadcast using Web SDRs or the WBCQ website (during their
broadcast) if you are not receiving the radio signal.

2. Episode 8 of Uncle Bill's Melting Pot, a clandestine musical variety
program that features everything from everywhere EXCEPT songs that you are
probably familiar with, will air on WBCQ the Planet, 7490 KHz, Thursday, April
20 from 2300-2330 UTC (7:00pm-7:30pm EDT in the Americas). Brought to you by
Tilford Productions, which also brings you From the Isle of Music.(The WBCQ
website keeps us Top Secret, but we'll be on, and propagation has been great
lately....)

As usual, we need your help! If you are a DX blogger, or use social networks, please post an announcement on your own blog and/or Facebook or send out a tweet. You can also forward this message to a friend.

Last but not least: We kindly ask our listeners, who are still waiting for a QSL verification, to remain patient. All pending reception reports will be acknowledged by the end of April.

We hope to hear from a lot of shortwave listeners about our transmissions.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Day of the Sun - is North Korea preparing to detonate a new nuclear bomb ?

New satellite images have emerged purportedly showing how North Korea is preparing to detonate a nuclear bomb to coincide with its 'Day of the Sun' national day on Saturday.

Aerial photos taken yesterday show continued activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear site where US officials fear a nuclear device has been installed in a tunnel ahead of another test.

It comes as the regime today warned foreign journalists to prepare for a 'big event' on Thursday and as tensions remained high after President Donald Trump sent a US Navy strike group steaming toward the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea's most important national day is on Saturday April 15 when North Korea commemorates the birth anniversary of its founding president Kim Il Sung. However, the big event may have been the grand unveiling of a sprawling housing project in Pyongyang.

What will be the next developments from North Korea ? Monitoring Voice of Korea from Pyongyang is increasing among those following world events. North Korea A17 - summer scheduleFrequencies may adjust without notice.Programs last 47 to 57 minutes. Data based on monitoring and on-air announcements. Special thanks to our regular International Shortwave Broadcast Guide contributor, Arnulf Piontek.All times UTC/target areasVoice of Korea